Malanje

Malanje
Municipality and town
Center of Malanje
Malanje Location in Angola
Coordinates: 9°32′S 16°21′E / 9.533°S 16.350°E / -9.533; 16.350
Country	Angola
Province	Malanje Province
Area
• Total	2,422 km2 (935 sq mi)
Elevation	1,155 m (3,789 ft)
Population (2009)
• Total	156,829
• Density	65/km2 (170/sq mi)
Time zone	WAT (UTC+1)
Climate	Aw

Malanje (often misspelled Malange) is the capital city of Malanje Province in Angola with a population of approximately 222,000. It is located 380 kilometres (240 mi) east of Angola's capital Luanda. Near it are the spectacular Calandula waterfalls, the rock formations of Pungo Andongo, and the Capanda Dam. The climate is mainly humid, with average temperatures between 20 and 24 °C (68 and 75 °F) and rainfall 900 to 130 millimetres (35.4 to 5.1 in) in the rainy season (October to April).

Portuguese settlers founded Malanje in the 19th century. The construction of the railway from Luanda to Malanje, in the fertile highlands, started in 1885. The environs of Malanje included the principal cotton-producing area of Portuguese West Africa and drove its development since the beginning. The town developed in the mid-19th century as an important feira (open-air market) on Portuguese Angola's principal plateau, between Luanda — the territory's capital and largest city, 350 kilometres (220 mi) to the west – and the Cubango River valley, inhabited by Northern Mbundu peoples, 200 km (120 mi) to the east. Situated at an elevation of 1,134 metres (3,720 ft), the town had a high-altitude tropical climate, ideal to several agricultural productions. The city developed as an important agricultural, manufacturing, trading and services centre. Its productions included cotton, textiles, coffee, fruit and corn, and among its facilities it had cinema, hospital, railway station and airport. The Cangandala National Park, was established by the Portuguese authorities on 25 June 1970, having previously been classified as an Integral Natural Reserve on 25 May 1963.